Turkey’s Foreign Minister says Egypt could join Saudi-Turkey-Pakistan defence alliance
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday that Egypt could join a newly formed defence alliance between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan after resolving a few technical issues. He described the agreement as effectively based on NATO's Article 5, which treats an attack on one member as an attack on all. Speaking to the state-run Anadolu Agency, Fidan said that in addition to a mutual defence mechanism, the alliance will feature a ministerial committee and a secretariat based in Saudi Arabia. He stressed that the agreement signed on Friday is not directed against Iran, stating that Iran is not the target of this defence alliance and that no one is targeted as long as no country attacks the alliance members. The Turkish Foreign Minister also linked his country's participation to regional maritime security, stating that shipping security in the Red Sea is connected to Turkey's interests and that Ankara must therefore participate in the Saudi-backed international coalition. Fidan said that Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey have no expansionist ambitions, adding that the vision of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not to limit the agreement to the three founding nations. According to him, this framework may expand in the future to cover more countries. He highlighted cooperation in defence industries and defence technology as the most important part of the agreement. Fidan noted that negotiations for the pact in Mecca, involving Turkey's partners and other regional countries, lasted for two years and eight months. Turkish media have reported that the agreement is likely to lead to joint exercises and training courses, increased intelligence sharing and defence technology cooperation. The pact, named the "Mecca Joint Defence Agreement", was officially signed on Friday during a meeting between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Pakistan stated that the agreement aims to strengthen all dimensions of defence cooperation between oil-rich Saudi Arabia, nuclear-armed Pakistan and Turkey, which boasts NATO's second-largest army. Reuters reported that growing concern over Iran and its proxy groups, alongside worries regarding Israel's regional military policy, were among the factors in the formation of this framework. The three nations have also developed doubts regarding the ability of the United States, their long-standing ally, to curb further escalation of tensions. Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif had previously called on Muslim countries to adopt a coordinated stance to counter what he termed the "common threat of Israel". The alliance has also drawn a reaction from Tehran. CNN reported that, amid an exchange of fire between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, Tehran warned Riyadh that a defence alliance with Turkey and Pakistan alone cannot guarantee Saudi security. A senior Houthi official told CNN that the group does not wait for orders from Tehran to escalate attacks against Saudi Arabia, claiming that this week's attacks were "preemptive" because Riyadh was preparing for a ground offensive against Houthi-controlled areas. He also accused Saudi Arabia of imposing an economic and air blockade on those areas, blaming it for creating "the worst man-made humanitarian crisis in the world".